NHS Improvement report underlines why our members are at 'end of their tether', says NHS Confederation

22 Feb 2018 09:35 AM

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, responded to yesterday’s quarter 3 performance report from NHS Improvement

“NHS staff in England are doing a heroic job, but these figures reflect the intolerable pressure on a system which currently has a staggering 100,000 vacancies to fill. 

"We have repeatedly pointed to severe underfunding in health and care and a year-to-date deficit in the English NHS of £1,281 million is just the latest evidence of this. 

"Our members are at the end of their tether. It is simply not realistic or reasonable to expect the NHS to go on delivering a comprehensive universal service with inexorably rising demand and demonstrably inadequate funding.

"We have lurched from budget to budget with one futile bail out after another. We think there may be signs that some figures in government and opposition are listening – we hope so, because it is now time for the political class to wake up and tackle the long-term funding of both health and social care. Nothing less is acceptable.”

Report: Quarterly performance of the NHS provider sector: quarter 3 2017/18

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